Topic > Analysis and Interpretation of John Singer Sargent's Rio di Santa Maria Formosa

John Singer Sargent's piece Rio di Santa Maria Formosa, was a near and dear painting that he had created based on his many trips to Venice. Beginning these journeys in 1880, he often painted scenery in watercolor, often in a gondola. This particular painting was created in 1905, in one of his escapades and takes its name from the church of Santa Maria Formosa in Venice. This work is a landscape painting, created with watercolor over graphite and pen and ink on wove paper. This is a two dimensional contemporary piece and is a more realistic painting. It is representational based on John's real-life accounts and includes color, shape, texture, space and line. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. Colors include light blue and gold, along with some whites. This includes the blue gondola and water, as well as the blue accents in the buildings. The gold reflects on the water and the bridge, illuminating the scenery and giving it a heavenly look and happy feeling. White is visible in the buildings and sky space, as well as reflected in the water. The color scheme is more similar to the monochrome scheme. The shapes in this work are geometric, rectangles in the buildings and triangles that create the front of the gondolas. As for the plot of this piece, it is visual. Because it is a watercolor on wove paper, the painting actually has no real texture, however, the way the water and shapes have been painted into the image creates the feeling of texture. Space is created through the use of proportion and depth. proportion and depth are used to create smaller buildings and a smaller bridge as well as their larger counterparts to create the feeling that some are closer or further away from the viewer, thus creating space. The lines created include vertical and horizontal lines, used in buildings and bridges, which create movement and carry the eye across the scenery. As well as the curved lines at the bottom of the bridges and gondolas. The design principles in this piece are harmony, movement, informal balance and contrast. Harmony is created by the use of the objects included in the piece and the color combination, creating a feeling of completeness and happiness. Colors that complement each other and similar shapes throughout. This piece shows movement through line work and the illusion of waves moving in the water. It includes an informal balance because the work is not completely symmetrical but still comes together to create a visually pleasing and sensible image. This is done by having some objects be symmetrical like bridges and other objects that are only slightly symmetrical in appearance like buildings and other gondolas. Finally, contrast is created through color, shadows and lines. The eye is directed through this piece across the bridges and buildings, up and down, as well as side to side. The first and main thing the eye is drawn to is the front gongola, it is the largest image in the painting and has beautiful colors contrasting with the rest of the objects in the painting, such as the darkest shade of blue in the work. The gondola creates the feeling of truly sitting in the scenery and enjoying a ride around Venice. The background of this painting is made interesting by creating an almost infinite feeling in the work, as if it were a photograph taken and the image continues to go beyond the boundaries. He achieves this by adding vertical lines above the bridges and drawing the side railings between them at the end of the painting. As well as the direction the water and the main gondola seem to be going, with no end point in sight. The theory of.